“Black lives matter!” It’s a familiar cry at protests across the country these days. Some people who don’t like hearing it take it to mean that only black lives matter and they like to respond that all lives matter.
We asked Paiziah Chounard, who’s 17 and organized Monday’s march in downtown Ottawa, what she thinks about that. She says yes, all lives matter, but black lives are threatened right now.
Paiziah Chounard
Chounard says she led the rally because she is biracial and her father, who is black, has experienced police brutality. One of the chants she led was, “Take it to the streets, defund the police, no justice, no peace!”
The words sharply contrasted with the interactions the police and protesters had Monday. Chounard expressed how well things went in an interview with WCMY. Several of the demonstrators thanked the police for managing traffic while they marched in downtown Ottawa.
Chounard says she doesn’t want to live in a world with no police. She feels some funding currently going to police should go to social workers to handle certain problems instead.
A participant who identified herself as Bridget expressed the same feelings.
You can hear more of what Paiziah Chounard said in these interviews.
In this one, we ask what she says to those who say all lives matter and imply that anti-racism demonstrators are skipping work:
In this one, we ask what “defund the police” means:
Demonstrators begin their march in downtown Ottawa.
The demonstrators kneel for eight minutes, 43 seconds by St. Columba Church. That’s how long a Minneapolis police officer pressed his knee to George Floyd’s neck as Floyd died.